An employer advertises for an Inventory person, and the job description says, “For this Inventory position, we need someone responsible”. An applicant replies, “I am the right person for this position. In my last inventory job, every time parts were missing or in the wrong place, they said I was responsible”.
Many people might argue that Sales is our business’s most important functional area. Some might argue for Operations, IT, or Accounting. I believe that the Inventory function is the most important, yet I often see great inefficiencies and lack of focus on this task. Ask yourself the who, what, where, and how the inventory of vehicles and loose parts is done in your operation. Is there room for better efficiency, coordination of roles, and training of people to make it all work better? Most auto dismantlers/recyclers are leaving money on the table and not on the bottom line due to inefficiencies in their inventory process.
I can’t review all areas of improvement available in a single article, but one of the most egregious areas for improvement is “Uninventoried Vehicles.” I have been to yards this year with not just 10-15 cars that have yet to be inventoried but dozens, maybe hundreds! This represents a massive hit to your business. Not only are you spending hard-earned cash on these vehicles, but you are continuing to buy vehicles, many of them duplicates. CASH OUT + NO PARTS SALES = LOST REVENUE.
Solution:
People — assign someone (maybe you as the owner) to get this done immediately. Set Goals! Take a count of how many uninventoried vehicles you have, then do the math to figure how many per day/week need to be done, and don’t stop until they are finished!
Process:
- Using an electronic tablet to input and price parts is infinitely more productive and efficient than paper inventory. Valuable information like Quantity on Hand (QOH) and Days on Hand (DOH) allow you to make informed decisions.
- If you buy 20 vehicles a week, the Inventory person must be able to inventory 20 vehicles a week. It must be done!! You may never catch up if you get out of sync with this flow.
Inventory is “The Gift that keeps on Giving”. However, Uninventoried Vehicles represent a huge bottleneck in selling more parts.
Shameless Plug for Cores: Now more than ever, we need to squeeze value from our inventory. We can do this during the front end when inventorying the vehicle. We can see the OVERSTOCKS right in front of our eyes, and parts can be pulled easier when the vehicle comes into the bay to be dismantled. We can also utilize software to evaluate our loose parts inventory sitting on the shelves. One of my favorite sayings is, “out with the old, in with the new.” We SELL parts. We don’t run MUSEUMS.
Truth be told, I am NOT a Core Expert, but a Recycler working at a Core Company. This has advantages because I have become the Recycler’s “Inside Guy,” and I see some OLD SCHOOL thinking. I have made it my mission to change Recycler’s mindsets from the Old School to the New School.
How Can You Improve Your Core Program? Contact me at pdadamo@coresupply.com or call my cell #401-458-9080. Let’s make change together.